Stephen Fry - Why does God let children suffer?

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It’s not that my mind would be made up. It’s that I have simply lost hope that Catholics will ever treat me any better than they have thus far.
For someone who claims she doesn’t hold a grudge, that sounds suspiciously like…er, …holding a grudge.

Move on, Lucy. I’m sorry that you were treated poorly by Catholics when you tried to discuss their faith with them.

No one should do that to you. We are agreed that we can refute your arguments without dismembering your character.
That in their view, I will never be a real person, but always something less, like a thing. I have no hope that even if I formally convert, I will ever have any Catholic friends, or even just friendly acquaintances.
#stillnotholdingagrudge?
I’m not complaining; it’s that in such a situation, how I am to trust them and depend on them when it comes to matters of God??
How about if you just consider the arguments presented?

You don’t need to have a beautiful doctor and gorgeous office staff when you are looking for a plastic surgeon, Lucy. Consider the doctor on her merits as a surgeon. Not how pretty she is.
 
Do you provisionally believe that Jesus walked on this earth 2000 years ago and had disciples who claim he died and resurrected?
Sure. But I think that is a weak line of reasoning. Although, do continue if you think you have a good point!
Do you believe the historical data that there was a church founded in the first century that worshipped the man Jesus who walked the earth?
 
To me, the fitting analogy is that of the obese doctor telling his obese patients to lose weight. Such a doctor’s advice may be true and well-meant, but it surely isn’t convincing to the patients.
You don’t think it would be idiotic for the obese patient to dismiss the obese doctor’s advice?

Even if the obese doctor said: quite smoking, take up an exercise program, take this medication, stop eating at McDonalds, come back and see me in 6 weeks?

Because the doctor is obese, that means what she advises is wrong?

Seriously?
 
No, because in my mind, group dynamics trump doctrine. That putative Catholic is a member, and I am not; therefore, in Catholic matters, her opinion automatically counts for more than mine, even if hers is nominally in conflict with the CC doctrine.
This is a nonsequitur.

Let’s get back to the original question: are you saying that you can’t tell a Catholic who professes to worship Mary as divine “Catholicism says that Mary is a creature. Not divine”?

You can’t tell her this because you’re not Catholic?

That is your reasoning here?

There is no group in this scenario. Just you and this Mary-worshipping Catholic, sitting in your kitchen.
 
No, I don’t subscribe to trivialism.

My point about the arbiter of truth was: If X tells you to refer to X to find out what the truth is, then X’s point is moot.
Really?

So if your Calculus professor tells you to refer to her to find out the answer to the problem, her answer is moot?
 
There is no “foreknowledge” with God. To God, everything appears in the Eternal Now.
Really? From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
Among the early Fathers of the Church, St. Augustine stands pre-eminent in his handling of this subject. He clearly teaches the freedom of the will against the Manichæeans, but insists against the Semipelagians on the necessity of grace, as a foundation of merit. He also emphasizes very strongly the absolute rule of God over men’s wills by His omnipotence and omniscience–through the infinite store, as it were, of motives which He has had at His disposal from all eternity, and by the foreknowledge of those to which the will of each human being would freely consent. St. Augustine’s teaching formed the basis of much of the later theology of the Church on these questions, though other writers have sought to soften the more rigorous portions of his doctrine.
newadvent.org/cathen/06259a.htm

John
 
For someone who claims she doesn’t hold a grudge, that sounds suspiciously like…er, …holding a grudge.
Pffft. There you go again.
Can you not imagine that it is possible to feel hopeless about a situation and yet have no grudge?
Move on, Lucy. I’m sorry that you were treated poorly by Catholics when you tried to discuss their faith with them.
The thing is, you’re not that different than them, despite all your efforts.
You persistently misread my posts, leaving out key points, you project stances into me that I don’t hold, and then you use a fancy word to call me stupid and judge me in line with your projections.
No one should do that to you. We are agreed that we can refute your arguments without dismembering your character.
We most certainly didn’t agree to that, and you are dismembering my character. 🤷
It’s not like I’m not used to that from religious people anyway.

Religious people tend to call others stupid (in less or more fancy ways), and the intention behind this seems to be to break the person’s pride or their self-esteem, and so that then, the person would accept whatever the religious person is saying.
You’re out of luck here, my grandmother succeeded in that long ago.
How about if you just consider the arguments presented?
The thing is, you want me to consider them per your standards, and your standards only.
You don’t need to have a beautiful doctor and gorgeous office staff when you are looking for a plastic surgeon, Lucy. Consider the doctor on her merits as a surgeon. Not how pretty she is.
Strawman. See below, and above.
Do you believe the historical data that there was a church founded in the first century that worshipped the man Jesus who walked the earth?
Provisionally.
You don’t think it would be idiotic for the obese patient to dismiss the obese doctor’s advice?

Even if the obese doctor said: quite smoking, take up an exercise program, take this medication, stop eating at McDonalds, come back and see me in 6 weeks?

Because the doctor is obese, that means what she advises is wrong?

Seriously?
Did you read the following sentences of that post and the other one where I mentioned that?

You conveniently omit my point about a sinner’s advice not being convincing, but that this doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be followed.
This is a nonsequitur.
Not at all, it follows from your doctrine. Like your calculus teacher example.
Let’s get back to the original question: are you saying that you can’t tell a Catholic who professes to worship Mary as divine “Catholicism says that Mary is a creature. Not divine”?
You can’t tell her this because you’re not Catholic?
Why would I tell her anything?
I wouldn’t invite people to my home to discuss religion. And if they bring it up, I don’t discuss it.
That is your reasoning here?
There is no group in this scenario. Just you and this Mary-worshipping Catholic, sitting in your kitchen.
There is a group. She is a member of the group “Catholics.”
Really?

So if your Calculus professor tells you to refer to her to find out the answer to the problem, her answer is moot?
The calculus professor did not invent calculus, nor is she the unique or full authority on it.
The analogy doesn’t apply to religion.

My knowledge of calculus (full or partial knowledge of calculus) does not depend on this particular professor, because there are many calculus professors, and I have already developed a certain proficiency in calculus on my own over time, so that I am to some extent autonomous in the matter (and can on principle discern whether what a particular calculus professor claims is true or not). In fact, I am so proficient that I can call her on it if I think she made a mistake, and if she’s not too proud, she’ll consider my comment.
IOW, there is an expertise in calculus that we have in common, it’s just that she is more proficient than I. It is not the case that she has full knowledge of calculus and I have none.

As far as I understood your position, per you, a person’s (full) knowledge of the Truth about God depends on the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church being the only authority on it, the only one to dispense it.
Per this view, the CC is to be deemed as having full knowledge, while I have none (and never could have).

In regard to worldy fields of knowledge (such as mathematics, or biology, historiography, sociology, architecture, cooking etc.), there is the proviso that a particular person can gain expertise in them and gain a measure of autonomy in them, becoming a member of the group consisting of other experts in a respective field.

But in religion, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
 
I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned the Christian God’s attribute of omniscience. He knows everything throughout eternity. This leaves the uncomfortable question: Having the foreknowledge that a child would die horribly, why would he still create them?
Our knowledge and actions can have no impact on this, or that creator is not omniscient.
Maybe God doesn’t think that way about those horrible things. In fact, if God makes them possible (as the Creator of and Supplier of all beings), it seems that he would have a predominantly pragmatic outlook on the matter.

With the proviso that analogies, especially when they are intended to illustrate something about God, are always in some ways insufficient, because God is a unique being and therefore a suitable analogy is impossible –
Consider a knife maker. A knife maker knows that people who will use the knives he makes will use them both for good things (such as preparing food) as well as for bad things (such as killing people). How does the knife maker live knowing this? Should he be worried? Should he stop making knives?
 
The thing is, you’re not that different than them, despite all your efforts.
You persistently misread my posts, leaving out key points, you project stances into me that I don’t hold, and then you use a fancy word to call me stupid and judge me in line with your projections.
Well, if our exchange is an example of how you dialogued with other religious people, I can say that it is as I suspected: no one was really out to get you. You mistake any refutation of your argument as a personal indictment of your character.

Let me assure you, Lucy, that people can disagree with your assertions/arguments/premises without making any judgement whatsoever about what kind of person you are, how good you are, and your eternal destination.

Gettting offended when someone says, “You are wrong” or “I disagree with you” is otiose here, Lucy.

This forum is for people who can understand that there is much to discuss and learn, and it’s important for members to not get offended when someone refutes her position.
 
We most certainly didn’t agree to that,
LOL!

I am positing that no one should treat you badly because she disagrees with your position, and you are disagreeing with that?

Ummm…okey dokey then.

I can see that I am in dialogue with someone who can’t understand the very basic principles of common sense.

Sadly, I must say buh-bye. :bighanky:
 
True. You couldn’t do that.

But the point remains: if there is no arbiter of truth, then anyone can say anything and it is true because he says it is?
Are we in the realm of subjective or objective claims? For subjective claims (“blue is the best color” vs. “red is the best”) then both can be true if there’s an understood qualifier ("… from my perspective.")

But if it’s objective (earth bigger than sun or vice versa), then one claim is right and the other is wrong. We can make arguments back of forth about which is right, the lack of an arbiter just means that nobody gets to show up and settle the matter without presenting an argument.
 
Are we in the realm of subjective or objective claims? For subjective claims (“blue is the best color” vs. “red is the best”) then both can be true if there’s an understood qualifier ("… from my perspective.")

But if it’s objective (earth bigger than sun or vice versa), then one claim is right and the other is wrong. We can make arguments back of forth about which is right, the lack of an arbiter just means that nobody gets to show up and settle the matter without presenting an argument.
The latter.

Sure. We are agreed, AS, that “nobody gets to show up and settle the matter without presenting an argument”.

That still means that: there is an objective truth.

To wit: the Reverend Fred Phelps is wrong here.

That is objectively true.
 
As far as I understood your position, per you, a person’s (full) knowledge of the Truth about God depends on the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church being the only authority on it, the only one to dispense it.
Per this view, the CC is to be deemed as having full knowledge, while I have none (and never could have).
There are few slight missteps of logic here. Things don’t quite add up, so to speak.

The CC dispensing the clearest, purest water of Life does not mean it is the only water available.

Merely because the CC has “full knowledge of the Truth about God” does not mean you “have none and never could have” unless you, intentionally, make it a point of difference whereby you reject everything the CC teaches and resolve to do so always, regardless of whether it teaches the Truth about God or not.

Why would you do that if the truth about God is what you are seriously interested in? Your personal differences with the CC should make no difference at all if the Truth about God (the Truth Itself) is your only desire and intention, no?

The point being that the “Truth about God” will be the Truth about God whether or not you find whoever teaches it agreeable or not.

In this case, the Church admits it is a hospital for sinners and so the current state of disease within its walls ought not be the criterion by which it is judged since, like all hospitals, it is the sick who need the treatment it offers - so the sick tend to conglomerate there. Being treated badly by the patients may or may not indicate anything about whether proper treatment is being dispensed by the hospital, although it could tell us something about the diseases currently rampant among the patients.

If you are neither a patient nor a caregiver, what is your position? Health inspector, perhaps? Sent by whom?

Stephen Fry’s position would be that health care is unnecessary and, itself, evil because human beings don’t get sick no matter what they do - it is quite healthy, according to him, to kill babies in the womb, take utter license with sex and abandoning all restraints on human behaviour is the indicator of optimal health.
 
The latter.

Sure. We are agreed, AS, that “nobody gets to show up and settle the matter without presenting an argument”.

That still means that: there is an objective truth.

To wit: the Reverend Fred Phelps is wrong here.

That is objectively true.
Well, in your case I’d think that a divine someone does exist that could settle the matter- if your god were to say that the WBC is wrong, that’s all there is to it. Your god would be right by virtue of the fact that he is who he is, not because he can persuasively argue his case. It’s authority in the literal sense- Tolkien can’t be wrong about Middle Earth, Lewis can’t be wrong about Narnia, and your god can’t be wrong about this universe. (Short of self contradiction)

My only point is objective truth can exist even without an arbiter. Even though a famous mathematician still has to prove his assertions, his conclusions either objectively follow from his assertions or they don’t. There’s no authoritative arbiter, but we still have objectively true and false statements.
 
My only point is objective truth can exist even without an arbiter. Even though a famous mathematician still has to prove his assertions, his conclusions either objectively follow from his assertions or they don’t. There’s no authoritative arbiter, but we still have objectively true and false statements.
That’s fine when people agree: WBC is vile and wrong.

But when 2 people disagree about objective truth, then to whom do you, a denier of a final arbiter, appeal?
 
Well, in your case I’d think that a divine someone does exist that could settle the matter- if your god were to say that the WBC is wrong, that’s all there is to it. Your god would be right by virtue of the fact that he is who he is, not because he can persuasively argue his case. It’s authority in the literal sense- Tolkien can’t be wrong about Middle Earth, Lewis can’t be wrong about Narnia, and your god can’t be wrong about this universe. (Short of self contradiction)

My only point is objective truth can exist even without an arbiter. Even though a famous mathematician still has to prove his assertions, his conclusions either objectively follow from his assertions or they don’t. There’s no authoritative arbiter, but we still have objectively true and false statements.
Take the conversion of former atheist Leah Libresco:

What was the primary factor that forced Libresco to this theistic conclusion? She explained that morality was the key. Throughout her time as an atheist, she struggled to come to grips with how humans can adhere to a morality that seems objective if there is no God. As she searched for answers among atheistic thinkers and writers, she admitted that their answers were inadequate. She stated:

I’ve heard some explanations that try to bake morality into the natural world by reaching for evolutionary psychology. They argue that moral dispositions are evolutionarily triumphant over selfishness, or they talk about group selection, or something else. Usually, these proposed solutions radically misunderstand a) evolution b) moral philosophy or c) both. I didn’t think the answer was there (2012).

Libresco, Leah (2012), “This is My Last Post for the Patheos Atheist Portal,” patheos.com/blogs/unequallyyoked/2012/06/this-is-my-last-post-for-the-patheos-atheist-portal.html.

Quite trenchant!
 
Take the conversion of former atheist Leah Libresco:

What was the primary factor that forced Libresco to this theistic conclusion? She explained that morality was the key. Throughout her time as an atheist, she struggled to come to grips with how humans can adhere to a morality that seems objective if there is no God. As she searched for answers among atheistic thinkers and writers, she admitted that their answers were inadequate. She stated:

I’ve heard some explanations that try to bake morality into the natural world by reaching for evolutionary psychology. They argue that moral dispositions are evolutionarily triumphant over selfishness, or they talk about group selection, or something else. Usually, these proposed solutions radically misunderstand a) evolution b) moral philosophy or c) both. I didn’t think the answer was there (2012).

Libresco, Leah (2012), “This is My Last Post for the Patheos Atheist Portal,” patheos.com/blogs/unequallyyoked/2012/06/this-is-my-last-post-for-the-patheos-atheist-portal.html.

Quite trenchant!
More…
When pressed by a friend to give an answer for the foundation for morality, Libresco was forced to admit that her atheism could not provide an explanation. Did she know where an answer could be found? She stated: “It turns out I did. I believed that the Moral Law wasn’t just a Platonic truth, abstract and distant. It turns out I actually believed it was some kind of Person, as well as Truth.” The Person, of course, to which she is referring is God.
In an interview with a CNN news reporter, Libresco noted that her conversion to theism was “kinda the same thing with any scientific theory, almost, that it had more explanatory power to explain something I was really sure of. I’m really sure that morality is objective, human independent; something we uncover like archaeologists not something we build like architects” (“Atheist Becomes Catholic,” 2012).
Libresco’s intellectual honesty regarding morality is refreshing to see. Theists have long understood and irrefutably shown that morality is objective, and atheism is impotent to provide an explanation for this reality (see Butt, 2002; 2010, pp. 87-123,204). Without a belief in a personal God from Whose character morality flows, the words “right” and “wrong” have no meaning in a moral discussion. Yet every person who is thinking honestly and rationally must admit that some things are objectively right and some things are objectively wrong. When such an admission is made, it inevitably leads to “some kind of Person, as well as Truth.” Thus, “In the beginning, God…” becomes the only statement with enough explanatory value to adequately deal with objective morality.
apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=12&article=1638
 
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